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Fear of supervisor punishment has been identified as a deterrent to participation in a number of workplace literacy programs. 39 Some of these programs have had to offer offsite classes or enlist union support to encourage employees to attend. I was kinda scared the first time when I couldn’t read really. . . . I was kinda scared to talk to my boss actually about that because I thought she was going to fire me. So one day I told her I wanted to talk to her. So she was willing to listen and I tell her I have a reading problem. And actually she was very sympathetic with me. She helped mea The Importance of Motivation An adult’s motivation is often quite high by the time they walk in the door of a literacy program. Motivation is the force which impels voluntary adult learners toward literacy education. When it is strong, adults can be expected to overcome the barriers to participation that life imposes. When motivation is weak participation is highly unlikely. It follows that if literacy programs can develop recruitment and instruction which is congruent with learners’ motivations, success in attracting and retaining students will be considerably enhanced. 41 A number of theorists and researchers have studied the motivations of adult learners. Although findings vary from study to study depending on populations studied and methods used, several general principles have emerged from this research. 42 Adults give a variety of reasons for participating in adult education. These motiva- Chapter 3-Adults as Learners! 81 Adults turn to education for many reasons including helping their children with homework, getting a new job, reading for fun, or learning something new. tions go well beyond a simple desire to improve basic skills or get a high school diploma. One review of the literature suggests that the goals reported in most studies can be grouped into three broad types: employment goals (to gain or upgrade employment), hopes related to children, and self-improvement. 43 In fact, one of the most frequently cited motivators for attending adult education is self-improvement, which includes reasons such as becoming a better person, wanting to learn new things, being more independent, becoming better informed. These self-improvement reasons appear to be equally, if not more, important than vocational motivators (e.g., getting abetter job, making more money). 44 Motiva- 39 Lw mm~, ‘wO&pl~e Literacy Programs: ~g anizationand Incentives,’ paper presented at “Adult Learning and Work A Focus on Incentives, ’ a conference sponsored by the U.S. National Center on AdultLiteracy, Nov. 4-5, 1991. 40 Ffigemt ad D- op. cit., footnote *6 P 39 41 Beder, op. cit., footnote 36, P. 39. 42 For a more complete review of the research see ibid. 43 ~ Balmuth, Kingsborough Community College, City University ofNew York, “Essential Characteristics of Effective AdultLiteracy Programs: A Review and Analysis of the Research” unpublished paper, 1986. 44 Beder, op. Cltc, fm~ote ’36. se @ ~ord A&b, us. ~p~ent of ~u~oq The way we Are: The Community cOh?gt? US American Thermometer (Washingto~ DC: U.S. Government Printing (Xtlce, February 1992),p.31. This report suggests that adults who attend community colleges ‘‘. . . are more interested in learning, in acquiring new skills, and in completing . . . basic general education than in advanced credentials, even if those credentials yield greater economic rewards. ii i

82 I AdultLiteracyandNewTechnologies: Tools for a Lifetime tion also seems to be influenced by age and the learner’s place in the life cycle. For example, diversion (a desire to dispel boredom) is given as a reason for participating by younger and older people, but less so for those in middle age. Concerns about professional advancement, in contrast, were highly motivating to those in middle age, less so in later years. 45 Why People Do Not Participate Most estimates suggest that somewhere between 5 and 10 percent of eligible adults have enrolled in federally sponsored literacy programs 46 AS the above section has within the last year. demonstrated, the adult who shows up at an adult education program is likely to be highly motivated and has managed to overcome or set aside other potential barriers to participation. But what of the adults who never come? What do we know about those who do not participate in literacy programs? It is much easier to survey, observe, and interview adults who come to programs than the much larger part of the population who do not. Lack of information about nonparticipants is a major problem facing those who would increase participation rates. 47 Some researchers have attempted to find out what the common barriers are to attending adult education classes. Most of these efforts are surveys that provide a list of possible reasons for not attending classes and ask adults to select the ones that apply to them. 48 This research is of limited generalizability, however, because it tells us only what people say keeps them from participating, which can be greatly affected by social desirability (e.g., it is easier and more acceptable to say cost and time are deterrents than to admit one is too anxious to try it or that one thinks education is worthless). Nevertheless this work has helped to illuminate the commonly cited reasons that people give for not attending. Most of the research on barriers or deterrents to participation in adult education has been conducted with a broad range of adults, and does not focus on those with few skills. A synthesis of this general research suggests eight major types of deterrents: “1. Individual, family or home-related problems 2, 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. (e.g., child care, poor health, transportation difficulties) Cost concerns, including opportunity costs and lack of financial assistance Questionable worth, relevance, or quality of available educational opportunities Negative perceptions regarding the value of education in general, including those related to prior unfavorable experience Lack of motivation or indifference toward learning (e.g., anomie, apathy) Lack of self-confidence in one’s learning abilities, including lack of social support/ encouragement A general proclivity toward nonaffiliation (e.g., marginal involvement in social activities) Incompatibilities of time and/or place, especially those associated with conflicting demands of work. ” 49 45 Beder, op. cit., footnote 36. See alSO K. Patricia Cross, A&A as Learners (San FIWKiSCO, CA JOSSV-EhSS, 1981). 46 For e~ple, S= ~ ‘d~~ “Nonparticipation in Adult EducatioxL” NCAL Connections, newsletter, winter 1992, pp. 4-5, 47 Gordon G. Darkenwal~ Literacy Assistance CmtW, ~., “AdultLiteracy Educatiom A Review of the Remarchand priorities for Future -,” unpublished report, 1986. 4s For ~mp]e, smey i~m include s~~nts such as: “I would feel strange going btlck to whoo~’ “I don’t ~ve enough * ~ to go back to school, “ ‘‘School is too m “‘‘Ihaven’t known where there are any classes,” “I don’t need a diplo~’ ‘‘My fiends would laugh at me if I wtmt back to school. ” Hal Beder, ‘‘Reasons for Nonparticipation in Adult Basic lliucatioq ” A&h Education @urterfy, vol. 40, No. 4, Summer 1990, pp. 207-218. For a review of these sumey attempts see Beder, op. cit., footnote 36. 49 CL. S- Detewents t. Participan”on: An A&lt E&cation Di/e~ (Col~bus, OH: ERIC cl~gholl~ on Add~ ~, ~d Vocational &hlCiltiOU 1986), p. 35.